


nothing safe is worth the drive

by Ravens_World



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29367264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravens_World/pseuds/Ravens_World
Summary: Eddie, not for the first time, wondered what he'd done to deserve Buck in his life. He was also overwhelmed, because he didn't know how to react. He knew these things were expensive and, Eddie knew that for Buck, this wasn't charity or borne out of a sense of pity. He was sure it hadn't even crossed his mind.Christopher had wanted something, and Buck had been able to provide it. In Buck's head, it was that simple.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 506





	nothing safe is worth the drive

**Author's Note:**

> I am in love with these boys and I need help.
> 
> Anyways, here's 2.9k words of Eddie falling in love with Buck and them being the amazing parents they are to Christopher.
> 
> Prompt : Buck sets up a nightly picnic in Eddie's backyard since they couldn't take Christopher during the day because of work 
> 
> It may have ran away from me. 
> 
> Happy Reading!!

"Phone call for you."

Buck's head shot up from where it was practically glued to his phone and he looked at Eddie in confusion. "What-?"

"Christopher want to talk to you," he told him, and watched his best friend's face light up in a giddy smile.

"Hey, Christopher!" Buck listened intently, and then his face fell. "Oh, buddy, I can't tomorrow. I have a shift."

Eddie took a seat across from Buck at the table, and shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation. "I know, but one of my friends here needed me to take her shift, so I can't make it." Ah, right, Vasquez had been feeling under the weather and had basically begged someone to take her shift. Buck had volunteered immediately, to no one's surprise. "Your dad will be there, though, and you two will have fun, right?"

When he looked at him questioningly, Buck mouthed 'later' at him. If it had been anyone else, and they'd made plans with his son without telling him, Eddie knew he would've been pissed, but with Buck, he couldn't even muster up a hint of anger. He tried not to examine that too closely. 

"I'm sorry, kid, but I swear I'll make it up to you, okay?" Buck seemed genuinely distressed about disappointing Christopher and Eddie knew exactly how he felt. 

"You want to talk to your dad? Okay. I'll see you in two days, alright?"

He hung up and Eddie waited impatiently for him to start talking. Buck handed him his phone, and Eddie was surprised to see him genuinely upset. 

"Well? Are you gonna tell me what that was about?"

"A couple of days ago, Christopher was talking about how he missed going to the park, you know? So I told him we'd have a picnic set up in your backyard on our next day off, which was supposed to be tomorrow."

"Ah." 

Buck rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I hate this," he whined, letting his head fall to the table with a thump.

Eddie chuckled and he pushed at Buck's head until he lifted it up. He looked miserable. "It's fine, man, he'll get over it."

Buck's expression didn't change, in fact, his frown deepened. "I don't want him to get over it." He stood up abruptly. "I'll think of something."

Eddie was startled by the sudden change of demeanor. "What-?"

Buck took off down the stairs in a hurry, nearly trampling Hen in the process if her exclamation and his loud apology were any indication. 

"What's gotten into him?" Hen asked him when she made it up the stairs, eyebrows raised. 

"I honestly don't know."  
.

When their shift was over, Eddie bid everyone, except Buck who had somehow disappeared, goodbye. He drove home, and when he got there, his son greeted him at the door. "Hey, little man."

Christopher accepted the hug readily and hugged him back, but he seemed a bit down. "You okay?"

"Yeah," his kid sighed. "I'm just bored."

Eddie hid a smile. "Well, what do you want us to do, huh? We'll do anything you want!" He tried to cheer his son up.

"Okay," Christopher said brightly.

"You know, Buck feels really terrible for missing out on your plans. He said-"

His phone rang and Eddie was surprised to see it was Buck calling. 

"Hey, Buck."

"Hey," he said breathlessly. "Look, I'm outside and I kinda need your help here."

"I'm coming. Hey, Chris, Buck is here."

Christopher's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah! He's outside and he needs our help with something. Go put on your shoes."

"Okay!"  
.

When they went outside, there was a small moving truck, and Buck was standing with his hands on both hips and talking with the delivery guy. 

"Hi, Buck!" Christopher called out.

Buck turned around, and Eddie saw the delivery guy give his his best friend an annoyed look when he interrupted their conversation to say hi to the kid. 

"Hey, Chris," Buck called back, waving enthusiastically. Eddie smiled and shook his head at his antics.

"Christopher, you wait for us here, alright?"

His son nodded, and Eddie jogged over to his best friend. "Buck?! I thought you were covering Vasquez' shift?"

"Got someone else to cover for her," Buck told him distractedly as he signed the paper on the clipboard.

"What's all this?" He asked and watched as the truck peeled away. 

Buck sighed. "Guess we'll have to move all this ourselves."

Eddie looked at the boxes, and- was that a swing set? He voiced his question out loud and Buck scratched his neck sheepishly. "Don't be mad! But- he said he missed the park and- there's no way to tell when we'll be able to take him there again and I- I thought this might help?" He made it sound more like a question than a statement and Eddie sighed.

"Buck, it's too much. _This_ ," he gestured at everything around them, "-is too much."

Buck shook his head. "It's really not. I- I just wanted to make him happy."

Eddie, not for the first time, wondered what he'd done to deserve Buck in his life. He was also overwhelmed, because he didn't know how to react. He knew these things were expensive, and he knew Buck didn't struggle financially as much as Eddie sometimes did. Eddie knew that for Buck, this wasn't charity or borne out of a sense of pity. He was sure it hadn't even crossed his mind.

Christopher had wanted something, and Buck had been able to provide it. In Buck's head, it was that simple.

"It's too much," he whispered again and if Buck noticed his wavering voice, he didn't mention it.

"Nah, not like I have anyone else to buy things for," Buck joked and Eddie shook his head. 

"I'm gonna pay you back for all of this, and don't you dare say no."

Buck ignored him.

"I mean it."

"You get that box over there," Buck instructed him, carrying one himself. "And Eddie? There is no way in hell I'm taking your money. And I will fight you on this."

Eddie smothered his smile. "You can't take me."

"You keep saying that and I _might_ ask you to actually prove it," he said as he sashayed away from him.

Eddie watched him for a lot longer than was appropriate, then shook himself and looked down at the box by his feet. His eyes widened. " _Buck, did you buy my son a trampoline?_!"  
.

Eddie had been instructed to go buy groceries for their impromptu picnic, while Buck and Christopher set up everything in the backyard.

He'd been given a list and strict instructions to be back as fast as he could, probably because it was already four PM and they didn't want to lose any more time. 

It took him half an hour, and when he got back, his small backyard was transformed. In one corner there was a small sandbox, and beside it there was a box filled with Christopher's beach toys. Beside it, there was a swingset and the trampoline. 

Buck and Christopher hadn't seen him yet, since they had their backs to him and seemed to be in a deep discussion. Eddie was grateful for the extra minutes it gave him to pull himself together. 

He took a breath and smiled. "I'm back!" 

They both looked back at him and smiled enthusiastically. "Dad! Buck and I are building a tent!" 

"Is that our tent? How did you manage to find it?" He asked as he put the bags on the ground and came to stand beside them. 

"You put in my room, dad," Christopher reminded him patiently.

Eddie didn't remember that, but he nodded all the same. "I thought we were having a picnic? How did it turn into camping?" 

Buck raised his hands and pointed to Christopher. "It was his idea. He found the tent when he was looking for his beach toys and decided he wanted to camp out in the backyard.

"And you, of course, said yes."

Buck just smiled innocently and Eddie shook his head with a smile. This man was going to be the death of him. 

Eddie eyed them both and the discarded instructions manual. "How long have you been trying to put up this tent?" 

"Not long," Buck answered defensively.

"So long," his son countered dramatically. 

Buck ruffled Christopher's hair, and Eddie tried not to laugh at them as Christopher batted Buck's hands away and said, "Buck, I can't lie to dad!"

To put an end to the play fighting, Eddie pointed at the groceries then at Buck. "I got everything you asked for. Now go make the food while I take care of this." He looked down at the tent and shook his head. "How are you 29 years old and you can't build a tent?" He called out to Buck's retreating back.

"Ha ha," Buck responded, without looking back.

He looked down at his son. "What do you say we have this up in five minutes and never let Buck live it down?"

His son laughed and nodded enthusiastically, and they set to work.

True to his word, the tent was set up in five minutes and he and Christopher went inside. He pulled Christopher into his side. "Did you thank Buck for all of this?"

His son nodded. "I did. He said I didn't need to thank him, so I just gave him a hug."

Eddie chuckled. "God, I love you, kid."

"Love you, too, dad."

The tent flap was drawn back and in entered Buck, balancing a tray of food expertly. "I can't believe you set this up so fast," he murmured.

"That's because we actually bothered to read the instructions some of the time, Buck."

Christopher giggled and Buck got a mock offended look on his face. "This is the second time you've betrayed me today, Christopher!" He cried. Buck put the tray down, and Eddie felt his son squirm, probably knowing what was coming, but unable to go anywhere in the tight space. Buck crawled over to Christopher's other side, then proceeded to tickle him mercilessly.

Christopher's laughter rang out in the relative quiet, then it was joined by Buck's and it hit Eddie that he was, undoubtedly, in love with this man.

He put the thought away immediately, like he always did, though it was getting harder and harder to do as time went by.

They ate, and then played a few games of scrabble. Buck had brought over his scrabble board as a joke after Eddie's brief technophobia a few weeks ago, and he'd kept it here. Christopher, to Eddie's surprise, had actually loved it, so Eddie had bought him Monopoly, risk and battleship. 

"Which one do you want to play next, bud?" 

Christopher seemed to think about it. "Can I go on the trampoline first?"

"Yeah, of course!" 

It wasn't that cold out, and though the sun had begun to set, there was still some light out. Buck went out first, then Eddie helped Christopher out and they followed him. Upon closer inspection, the trampoline seemed to have rubber bars on the inside, which- Eddie knew Buck would never endanger his kid, but he'd been fully prepared to make adjustments to the trampoline, or even stop him from getting on it altogether, but Buck had yet again surprised him by his thoughtfulness towards his son. He never seemed to forget Christopher's limitations, and he always tried to find ways around them, exactly like Eddie tried to approach every new thing when it came to Christopher. 

Buck helped Christopher in, and started to teach him where to put his hands, the safest way to jump when on the trampoline, how fast he could go, and when to slow down. And Eddie could do nothing but watch and fall in love with him more with each word, with each smile, and with each laugh he elicited out of his son. 

Watching his son jumping freely, hearing his quiet laughter, and seeing complete and utter joy on his face was one of the best things Eddie got to witness, and Buck was the cause of that. 

They stayed close in case Christopher needed them, and once they made sure he could handle it, Eddie turned to Buck. "Thank you," he told him sincerely, and was thankful when his voice remained steady. "Thank you so much. I-"

"You don't have to-" at Eddie's glare, he amended. "You're welcome?" 

It was more of a question than an answer and Eddie had to laugh. He put his hand on Buck's shoulder and squeezed. His thumb accidentally brushed against his throat, and Eddie felt Buck's breath hitch. 

His eyes flitted to the other man's lips, and then back to his eyes, and if the way Buck's eyes darkened was any indication, he'd noticed. Neither of them made a move, and Eddie was almost relieved. 

Things between him and Buck weren't simple. It wasn't just a matter of love, or comparability. It wasn't just about them, because if it were, Eddie would have gone for it months ago. 

Buck was a big part of their lives right now, and Christopher loved him, and he was attached to Buck in a way that scared Eddie as much as it made him happy. If they ever decided to take a step forward, they needed to be one thousand percent sure it was something they both wanted and were ready to commit to. And though Eddie felt like Buck was a co-parent already sometimes, there was always a nagging voice in the back of Eddie's head that screamed " _and what happens if he gets tired of it? What happens if he gets tired of me?"_

Then there was the matter of their jobs and the loops they would have to jump through if they wanted to keep working together.

His head and his heart were nearly constantly at war when it came to this subject; because while his head screamed ' _is it worth it?_ ', Eddie would look at Buck and his heart would skip a beat and he would find himself thinking ' _how could it, how could he,_ not _be?'_

"Eddie?" Buck's quiet voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

His shoulders relaxed. "I lost you there for a second. You okay?"

"More than okay," he responded, and enjoyed the grin that elicited. 

"Dad!"

"Yeah?"

"Can I go on the swing next?"

The swing seat was a lot bigger than the usual ones at the park, and it was much easier for Christopher to use; he was even able to get on it without any help. "You really thought of everything, huh?"

Buck smiled bashfully and shrugged, then immediately went to Christopher and started to push the swing. 

When it was fully dark, and Christopher seemed to be tiring, Eddie suggested they go inside. "But what about our tent?"

"It'll be there tomorrow, kid. It's getting late, and you have school tomorrow."

Christopher didn't put up much of a fight, and so they went inside. Buck made them mini sandwiches, which he and Christopher were obsessed with, while Eddie set up a movie. 

They ate their dinner, and they watched the movie, and they laughed. When it was done, Eddie helped Christopher get ready for bed-not that the kid let him do much- and Buck read him a few pages of How to Train Your Dragon. Christopher loved every minute of it, especially because Buck had a talent for giving each character a voice. And all the while, in the back of his head, all he could think of was, _I want this. I want to keep this forever._

When Christopher fell asleep, they crept out of his room quietly and ended up in the kitchen.

Buck was washing the dishes and Eddie was drying when, somehow, it just sliped out.

"I think I might be falling for you."

The plate in Buck's hand slipped, and Eddie watched as he tried to catch it, but instead fumbled with it for a few seconds before it fell in the sink and splashed water all over his shirt. 

Eddie wanted to laugh. He also wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. 

He did neither.

He just waited, terrified and impatient, for Buck to fully process what he'd said. "Did you just-"

"Yeah," Eddie nodded. 

"And you're _serious_?"

Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled at the dumbfounded expression all over Buck's face, despite feeling like he'd just made a huge mistake. " _Yes_ , Buck, I'm serious."

"What about Ana?"

"That was over before it even started. You'd have known that if you didn't run away every time I brought her up."

Buck swallowed thickly.

Eddie was actually starting to get even more nervous by the second. "Buck, are you-"

"Can I kiss you?"

Eddie's teeth clicked shut, and it was his turn to freeze, because it felt like they'd gone from 0 to 100 and he needed time to catch up. 

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?" His voice was hoarse but he paid it no mind, because Buck was drying his hands and stepping closer now. 

"Can I kiss you?"

He started to nod, and then was immediately tugged into Buck's arms. Their first kiss was not gentle, and it wasn't as passionate as Eddie expected it to be. It was a hello in the form of a kiss; it was curious and familiar and playful. When Buck pulled away, they both seemed to breath out a sigh of relief. Then Buck laughed giddily and Eddie smiled.

"We have a lot of things to talk about."

"We do," Buck agreed, then pressed a fleeting kiss to his lips. 

Not one to be distracted, Eddie continued. "We can't tell people right away. We have to be sure."

"Okay." Another kiss, this one feather-light and pressed to the corner of his lips. 

Eddie closed his eyes and tried to remember the other things he wanted to tell him, but then Buck's lips trailed down from his lips, to his jaw, to his neck, and he couldn't think of anything other than his need for more.

Everything else could wait until tomorrow. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought


End file.
